Three dog attacks this week in YakimaBy MARK MOREYYakima Herald-Republic

YAKIMA -- Karen Garcia has regularly walked her two Chihuahuas for the past couple of years during breaks from her beauty shop on Nob Hill Boulevard.

The usually uneventful trip turned dangerous Tuesday morning when a neighborhood dog attacked her, apparently in an attempt to grab one of her little dogs.

She was not seriously injured, but it was the third dog attack in the city since Sunday, when a Rottweiler mauled a 5-year-old boy playing with a puppy at his house in the 1200 block of South Seventh Avenue. City officials said they did not have a confirmed update on his condition; he was being treated Sunday at a Yakima hospital for wounds to the head, chest and shoulder.

On Monday, a 20-year-old woman suffered minor injuries when a dog bit her in the 1600 block of South 15th Avenue as she was walking to the nearby Yakima Valley Technical Skills Center, Yakima police Sgt. Bob Hester said.

The dogs involved in the incidents Sunday and Tuesday were impounded for at least 10 days as city officials review the cases. The status of the dog in Monday's case was not immediately available.

The owners in Tuesday's case said they did not want the dog returned, city spokesman Randy Beehler said. Animal control officers described it as a German shepherd-mastiff mix, Beehler said.

Tuesday's incident happened about 10:45 a.m. as Garcia was on break from Hair Razors, her shop at 806 W. Nob Hill Blvd.

Garcia said she had sometimes given the attacking dog snacks as she and her dogs passed through the alley behind its house in the 1100 block of South Eighth Avenue. Even though the dog was not particularly friendly, it hadn't shown a tendency to attack.

Garcia said the dog was able to charge through an unsecured gate. It went straight for one of the Chihuahuas, starting a tug of war as Garcia tried to save her pooch.

A neighbor who heard Garcia's screams, as well as couple of people from the home where the dog lives, were able to control the dog.

Garcia, a Moxee resident, suffered puncture wounds to the chest, arm and hand. She was briefly treated at Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital.

She said she had never been attacked by a dog before.

"I hope I never am again," she said Tuesday evening, adding she does not plan to walk that route again.

City ordinances require all dogs to be leashed or under the owner's control, such as within a secure yard. The only prohibited breeds are pit bulls and American bulldogs, Beehler said.